By Marcus Uhe
Seven wickets, eight wickets, 10 wickets.
There were some absolute beltings in round three of the CCCA District competition with bowling first clearly a winning strategy across the three fixtures.
Such was the beating offered by Pakenham Upper Toomuc to Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll that it overshadowed a comprehensive 10-wicket win from Officer over Lang Lang.
It took the Yabbies just 21 overs to run through the Marygoons on their own deck, dismissing the hosts for just 56 in a whirlwind effort with the ball.
Only numbers eight (Qasim Ali) and nine (Carter Davis) made it to the refuge of double figures for the home side, making 11 and 18 respectively in the rout.
The top seven combined for a miserly 18 runs as things went from bad to worse.
Alex Prendergast was the leading wicket taker with three but each bowler added a scalp to their name in the demolition.
In reply, it took just nine overs for Pakenham Upper Toomuc to reach the paltry total, with James Stevenage top scoring with 24.
Officer’s trip to Lang Lang further underscored its credentials as a team to watch this season with the Bullants marching to a 10-wicket thrashing over the Tigers.
Skipper Cooper Pursell took three of the opening four wickets, including the critical scalps of Rajind Dassanayake and Prabath Kobbekaduwa in the eighth over, to have the hosts in-trouble at 4/30.
Alexander Giacco offered the only semblance of resistance in the middle order with a fighting 28 off 86 as many of his teammates perished for smaller contributions.
He and Damien Quinlan added 35 for the ninth wicket in what was the largest partnership of the innings by a considerable margin as the hosts were rolled for 105.
Pursell finished with 4/28 from his eight overs, but his first change bowler in Jonty Bennie arguably stole the show with remarkable numbers of 2/1 from his eight overs, with seven maidens.
Jaswinder Gill and Chathura Imbulagoda were afforded more time in the middle to further solidify their union at the top of the order, needing just fifteen overs to reach the target of 106.
Both notched half-centuries in the stand, making it two 100-run partnerships from two outings after putting on 124 together last week.
Lang Lang tried everything with the ball, giving seven players the chance to roll their arm over but were unable to keep the run rate down as the Bullants scored at better than a run-a-ball.
Nathan McLean’s two overs went for 20, Kobbekaduwa’s three went for 24 and Dassanayake’s three deliveries for 11.
At Chandler Reserve, Cranbourne Meadows made it three wins from three matches thanks to a nine wicket defeat of Emerald.
Rebels captain Jass Dhaliwal faced no such issues that his Bombers’ opponents did, hitting 87 not out to guide his side home in the chase of 146.
None of the Emerald batters passed 50 as wickets fell with regularity throughout the 40 overs.
Jordan Robinson and captain Owen Thorne added 56 for the third wicket, with the next highest stand being 34 between Trent Rolfs and Oscar Dempsey.
The tight bowling performance from the Rebels was underscored by Rohit Sharma’s economy rate of 4.2 being the team’s highest, as Thomas Smith and Mandhiraj Singh both claimed two wickets each.
It took the Rebels just 26 overs to reach the target with Dhaliwal and Rohit Sharma dealing primarily in boundaries.
72 of Dhaliwal’s 87 required an umpire’s signal, with 15 fours and two sixes, while Sharma hit three sixes and a four in his 29.
The action continued on Sunday with round four, but only Officer’s contest with Nar Nar Goon went ahead due to wet weather.
Officer heaped further pain on Nar Nar Gonn/Maryknoll with a three wicket win in a rain-reduced contest at Officer Recreation Reserve.
The Bullants weren’t as prolific with the bat as they had been in previous weeks, with Gill and Imbulagoda’s golden run coming to an end, but still set the Marygoons 177 to win in the afternoon.
None of the Marygoon batters made significant inroads, however, rolled for 112 after 25 overs thanks to a five-wicket haul from Jonty Bennie for just seven runs.
Nathan Phillips and Brandon Interlandi added 44 for the fifth wicket in a clear standout combination for the Marygoons.
Upper Beaconsfield’s contest against Lang Lang and Pakenham Upper Toomuc’s with Emerald were both abandoned.
